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Cyber Risk for Small Businesses

April 7, 2017 by John

Cyber risk is the risk of damage due to failure in your information technology systems. It covers finances, reputation, and disruption of any kind. It’s not a new concept, but it seems to be regarded by many as something for big businesses to worry about. Just think: how would your customers and employees feel if some or all of your confidential information was leaked? It’s a nightmare scenario, but so many small businesses don’t think it concerns them. I’m not a big target, they think. I don’t need to worry that much about cyber security. That’s the wrong way to think about it.

Let’s talk about a small business called Rokenbok Education.

Rokenbok is a small public interest firm dedicated to delivering applied technology and engineering learning experiences for K-12 students. They suffered an attack in 2015 that locked them out of their files, and the attackers demanded a hefty ransom. This kind of story is becoming increasingly common; access to anonymous commodity currency like BitCoin and increased internet access is making it very profitable to perform this sort of attack. Rokenbok was able to overcome the threat without paying the ransom, but they lost thousands in sales and a lot of customer loyalty, not to mention having to restructure their entire business to avoid the ransom.

Small and medium businesses are increasingly tantalizing targets for hackers. They usually have little in the way of security (keeping your default settings doesn’t help at all) and they usually have some level of infrastructure, that, once controlled, can be used to attack other machines. You may have heard of something called a “botnet”. A botnet is a large number of infected machines that run small bits of software that coordinate distributed attacks. You might not know if you’re part of a botnet until you finally catch the program in the act, or if you notice a large spike in internet traffic from things like webcams or that cool new wifi-connected coffee pot. I don’t know if any wifi-enabled coffee pots exist, but if it does, then it can be hacked.

Keeping up on this is the job of any IT staff. The Computer Specialist is experienced in taking care of our neighbors here in the Norman area. Call us, and let us put our expertise to work for you. You’ll be glad you did. Click here to read about our services for small businesses.

Adapted from:

Vadiveloo, Jay, Jay Krutiak, Jing Guo, and Junyi Yang. “Cyber Risk for Small and Medium-sized Enterprises.” Janet & Mark L. Goldenson Center for Actuarial Research (2016): n. pag. Aug. 2016. Web. 7 Apr. 2017.

Filed Under: Internet Security Tagged With: antivirus, bitcoin, ransomware, risk management, virus

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Testimonials

  • Over the last twenty years I have served both small and large business clients as a contract accountant. When there has been a need for computer technical assistance in these offices or in my own business office, I have used John Williams, dba The Computer Specialist. I have found that he makes himself available to... Read More
    Kathy F
  • John spent several hours setting up my new home computer system. He took out the hard drive and installed a 500GB SSD. He needed some special installation pieces and went to a local source without billing me for his travel time there and back. He did a great job and I have his number in... Read More
    Dr. Robert G
  • We've been very impressed with the whole process of top to bottom site system security monitoring of our computers as well as the installation, maintenance, and upgrades done with our surveillance platform for our commercial property. From consulting to quote to execution and beyond we have been very pleased with every aspect of the business!... Read More
    Andrew R.
  • very nice man to deal with, came a day earlier than he said he would. gave me a call to let me know. he did a great job and it looks very nice as well. I now have internet in my shop as fast as in my house. thanks John for a job well done Read More
    Gary H.
  • You recommended them. They picked up my computer and determined the hard drive crashed. They replaced it and were able to save all my docs and photos. Extremely pleased. Read More
    Larry C.

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